Niall's POV:
I eye the sparkling killer in his hand, and for the first time ever, I feel true panic. I finally realize how terrified people must have been when I raised my knife towards them...
They had to know it was only because I was afraid of them right? People don't see me as a crazed killer? Do they?
"Not so fun being on the other side of the knife, now is it?" The sick piece of shit chuckles sarcastically at me.
I glare him down, trying to figure out a plan to overpower him. But my head is spinning from the blows brought upon by his fist. I can't think straight between that and the fact that my leg feels like it's gonna fall off from the pain shooting throughout it. That f.ucker bit into the muscle... I look down at it with wide eyes. Wow, that's a lot of blood...
It takes me a couple of minutes to realize that I'm almost falling unconscious. Shit. I sit straight up, and the sudden movement makes my head hurt even more. I wince, screwing my eyes shut for a moment.
My brief moment of confusion gives him the advantage. By the time I open my eyes, Jeff is sitting on top of me with the knife pressed up against my throat.
My vision is full of blurred up colors, but somewhere in the mess I see Jeff's face. The face I hate with a f.ucking passion. Is this what Cynthia saw before she died?
Cynthia.
The burning hatred for her killer bubbles up inside of me. Even with my mental state currently disoriented, I try to use all of my strength to throw the sick monster off of me.
I surprisingly succeed. I stagger to my feet, but immediately have to grab the counter top to keep from losing my balance. Shit, this guy has messed up my brain in someway. Or maybe it's all of the blood I'm losing from the gash in my leg that's causing me to feel like I'm going to pass out...
I clench my fists. Fight it. Stay awake. Don't let him hurt Madison. Stay awake. Fight it.
I struggle to keep my eyes open, as thoughts of my beautiful Madi course through my brain.
"Don't.... touch.... her." I force the words out through clenched teeth.
Jeff does look damaged as well from my beatings, but he hasn't lost as much blood as me, which is probably why he's still standing there, proud, smirking at me.
"Eh." He shrugs and I want to fucking strangle him. I would, if I could. But the darkness is a heavy weight that I'm finding difficult to keep above my shoulders. My mind screams in fury but my body can't take anymore. I fall to the floor and find my eyes closing.
The last words I hear send a heart shattering bolt of terror throughout my being before I black out.
"Let's get started, shall we?"
Madison's POV:
I bolt awake when I hear the front door slam shut.
I leap to my feet, sudden panic coursing through me. Where's Niall?! How long was I asleep?
I quickly search the bed for my phone, finding it under my pillow at last. 7:53.
Well, school's in 7 minutes. Great.
I roll out of bed and fling myself down the stairs, eyes darting back and forth, "Jeff?"
"Morning, Madi." Jeff calls from the kitchen.
I walk into the kitchen, surprised to see him mopping the floors. The place reeks of bleach. I give him a puzzled look, "What are you even doing?"
He smirks at me, "Cleaning."
"Why? We have school in 7 minutes..." He never cleans. Especially not in the morning.
He just shrugs, "Probably gonna skip for today. More important to make mom and dad happy when they get home."
I immediately know that that's not the truth. I see it in his eyes. I suddenly feel sick to my stomach.
To force him to make eye contact with me, I grab his arm, "You saw Niall, didn't you?"
Jeff looks up at me, a puzzled look on his face, "Niall? What are you even... Madi. Please don't tell me he was here. Please don't tell me you let him sneak in.."
Well shit...
His eyes light up in anger, "He's dangerous! Why the f.uck would you-"
"I'm not the only one hiding something, obviously. Why the f.uck are you bleaching our house?" I snap back.
"I'm seriously just trying to make mom and dad feel better! They had a rough ass night at the hospital with John. Trying to make their lives 2% easier. More importantly, why and when was that piece of filth in our house?" His fists are clenched.
I sigh, pulling a juice box out of the refridgerator, "Fine, I give up. He was here last night. Trust me, I didn't ask him to... He climbed up the side of our house and knocked on my window. I couldn't just leave him there, he would've fallen."
"You should've let him fall." Jeff grumbles.
"Can you explain to me why you hate him so much? You've literally only met him once and you two looked like you were going to kill eachother." I question, raising my eyebrow inquisitively. I stick a straw in my juice box and raise it to my lips.
"Madi, first of all, I didn't need to meet him to know he was a freakin lunatic. He stabbed Brett. He chased our English teacher 3 blocks just because the man tried to get him some help. He lives in some creepy ass cabin in the woods and only leaves it on Sundays to sing to a grave at the cemetary. I think I had enough reasons to hate him before I even met him." He explains while continuing to mop the floor.
"Okay I can see why you'd be uncomfortable around him. But even those reasons aren't good enough to hate someone for. There's something you're hiding from me." I remark simply. Jeff stops mopping and looks up at me, eyes narrowed.
"And I'm gonna find out what." I snap.
He rolls his eyes and scoffs, "Can't find something that doesn't exist."
"Did Niall have to do with you and Jackie or something? Is he the reason you guys broke up? Is that why you hate him?" I dare to ask.
Fatal. Mistake.
Jeff throws the mop to the floor. Water splashes up from it and hits me in the face, as does Jeff's hand. My mouth falls open in shock and I put my hand on my cheek. Sharp pain shoots up the side of my head from where he laid the blow on me.
Jeff's eyes widen in shock as he realizes what he just did. He begins to stutter an apology, "Madi, I-I-I didn't mean t-to-"
"Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the f/ucking tree." I snap as tears begin to glisten in my eyes.
He knows exactly what I'm referring to, and it causes guilt to shine in his eyes. He remembers just as well as I do when I was 13 and my father slapped me.
"Madi please-"
I put my hands on his chest and shove him as hard as my arm strength permits me, "Ever since you and Jackie broke up, you've changed. We aren't as close and you're always in the worst mood. In the past I never asked about it or pressured you because I knew it was a touchy subject for you. But now I want to know what f.uck happened with her and I think I deserve an explanation after what you just did to me." I shriek at the top of my lungs. My juice box has become a victim to my clenched fist. Juice drips to the floor as the wear piece of plastic is crushed by my anger.
Jeff sighs and slowly begins to explain, "Alright, alright. She umm..." He takes a minute to gather his thoughts before saying, "She cheated on me and it was with that Niall guy. That's why I hate him. And I didn't mean to hit you, I just really hate to think abou Jackie and when you said her name it set me off... I'm sorry...."
This new information hits me like a semi truck just slammed into my rib cage. Niall never told me that he had any love interests other than Cynthia... And if Niall made out with her while Jeff was dating her, that would have to have been when he was 15, because that's how long ago it was when we came here for the summer.... But that couldn't have been right.... Because Niall told me that he met Cynthia and they fell in love freshman year, when he was 15....
Either Jeff's lying or Niall isn't as innocent as I thought...
This is all too confusing.
"Madi.." Jeff asks hesitantly.
I put a hand on my throbbing forehead. Suddenly a migraine has struck me. Whether it's due to my own brother slapping me or from all of this new information, I'm not sure.
"I;m fine I'm just... confused, i guess. Confused that Niall would make out with another girl because he was dating a girl named Cynthia around that time...."
Something flashes across Jeff's gaze but it's gone before I can figure out what it was, "Wouldn't be surprised if he cheated on her back then. And that's why I don't want you with him. Not only is he dangerous, but he has a tendency to cheat."
I sigh, and move towards the trash can, "I gotta talk to him about this."
Jeff grabs my arm, a new darkness lighting up his facial features, "You can't do that."
"Jeff, i have to. I need to hear his side of all of this..."
"Madison I won't f.ucking let you! If you even try-"
"Then fine I won't okay!" i scream just to get him to stop yelling. The loudness of his voice made my head hurt almost unbearably worse. "But i need to get to school. I have no idea how I slept through my alarm."
"No idea." Jeff shrugs, but he won't meet my gaze.
There is something he's hiding from me. Something big. But I can't seem to figure it out between this piercing headache, my hurt that Niall cheated on a girl he claimed was his true love, and... what the hell this headache is inhuman......
I move Jeff aside so I can throw my juicebox in the trash, "I think I might go back to bed.... I feel like shit, i don't think i can go to school like this."
Jeff shrugs and cleans up the mess he made when he threw the mop down, "Do what you gotta do."
I plan on doing just that. i can't wait to crawl back into bed.
That is, until I lift open the trashcan and find something I never wanted to find.
I shriek at the top of my lungs, headache forgotten. My juicebox falls to the floor.
I now believe that every single thing Jeff said about Niall was a lie. Jeff doesn't hate Niall because Niall took Jackie from him. Niall didn't make out with Jackie. He probably didn't even know Jackie. Jeff didn't not know that Niall snuck into my room last night.
And I also now know why he's bleaching our house.
I know all of this and more from the bloody blue t shirt in our trashcan. The one Niall wore last night during our sleepover.
(well hey guys :D it's been a while since I updated but I'm back! This chapter probably confuses you but it'll make sense by the next one
if you're confused I can try to help:
basically, when Jeff went into Madi's room last night, he drugged her (that's why she didn't wake up when jeff was attacking Niall, and that's why she has that headache)
and then now he's bleaching the house to cover up what he did
and also
Jeff lied to her about the entire Jackie thing. The real reason he hates Niall is the whole Cynthia thing.
there ya go, hope you get it. My writing even confuses me sometimes XD)